Teacher indicted for kindergarten's bully revenge

Updated 10:23 pm, Tuesday, December 4, 2012

A former Judson school district kindergarten teacher accused of rallying students to line up and hit a disruptive schoolmate could now end up behind bars following her indictment Tuesday for official oppression.

Cynthia Ambrose, 43, was an 11-year veteran at Salinas Elementary in May when authorities said a less experienced kindergarten teacher sought advice for disciplining a 6-year-old student accused of bullying other children. Ambrose's solution, the colleague later told the school district's police department, was to have other students bully the alleged bully.

Official oppression — a charge often applied to police officers who abuse their positions — is a Class A misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of a year in jail.

At least seven children struck the targeted student as Ambrose encouraged them, saying “Hit him harder,” and “Teach him why bullying is bad,” authorities alleged.

Some students told police they were afraid not to participate.

Ambrose's colleague reported the incident about two weeks later. She was put on temporary leave and reprimanded, the school district acknowledged earlier this year. Ambrose, meanwhile, was told not to return.

The scenario is one that Adriana Biggs, chief of the district attorney's white collar crimes division, said she has never before encountered. While there are occasionally cases in which a teacher inappropriately strikes a child, encouraging other students to administer the blows is simply “odd,” she said.

“You're teaching those children that violence is OK and it is the way to solve a situation,” Biggs said. “That's contrary to anything that should be taught in the school. The teacher is using the very violence she's hoping to eliminate.”

The child, Aiden Neely, had no lasting injuries as a result of the incident, according to the district attorney's office. His mother, Amy Neely, told the San Antonio Express-News in June that she hoped criminal charges would be filed so Ambrose wouldn't be able to get a teaching job anywhere else.

She took issue with her son being characterized as a bully, insisting that the school had never expressed any concerns with her son's behavior.

Ambrose's attorney did not return calls Tuesday evening.

The teacher told “Good Morning America” in June that it hurts being labeled a danger to children because she loved her job. She described the incident as a misunderstanding that backfired, with students jumping in to hit the boy before she could stop them.

“I'm sorry. It wasn't the way it was intended to be,” she said through tears.